Flashbacks
by madwarringinvenice
Summary: "It was supposed to be a simple mission really..." Neji and Lee are killed on a mission. Tenten reflects on the time they had, what they meant to her, and makes a promise. Tenten centric, character death, Team Gai friendship.


Flashbacks

As usual, I have no connection to Naruto other than being insanely obsessed with it!

I'm so sorry, guys. I thought that I could be useful enough to protect you this time and return the favor for the many times that you protected me. Oh, how wrong I was…

I never was one to stand out like the two of you. I never was quiet and reserved, but at the same time strong enough to shine out all that I lacked. I also was never challenged in a way that required me to constantly work to prove my existence. I was never like you two… I was never a genius…

Neji, you never doubted yourself in the face of danger. I remember looking to you for advice on how to improve myself, even if you didn't know I was watching. I remember those nights when the Lee and I would fall asleep after those rigorous training exercises, right on the ground. Gai would take Lee home and make sure he got to bed, and you would carry me home, doing the same. I even recall one time that I woke up to you sleeping on my couch. You had been too tired to make it any farther. It was during those nights that you proved to me that you had a soft heart under that _almost_ unyielding mask of stoicism.

Lee, you showed me that the limitations fate has placed on you are only more walls to be climbed and conquered. You also taught me that one does not need to be born with natural talent in order to succeed. The will to go on no matter what comes your way is the true path to victory. I will always remember the _many_ training sessions that we had together as a team. And I'll always remember the friend-rival relationship you had with our own little prodigy. Oh, how I look fondly back to those days when you would challenge Neji to a friendly duel, always thinking that everyday you were that much closer to beating him. But I knew you never wanted to hurt him. Your friendship with him would never allow it.

But now I'm worried.

Lee, you never saw the day that Neji would finally admit defeat. And Neji, you never saw the change in your clan that you _vowed_ to create. And the worst part of it all is that I couldn't do anything to help those dreams come true. I could only stand by and watch as those dreams and plans all went to waste. They all shattered because I wasn't strong enough to care for myself!

This mission was supposed to be simple. There was supposed to be little to no fighting involved. Nonetheless, somehow you two seem to attract danger like a pair of magnets.

Kunai were flying.

Chakra was flowing… as was blood.

I thought we had it covered, but in a moment of distraction, the enemy I was facing managed to get me pinned. Since I couldn't reach my scrolls, I thought that I should just accept my defeat like a true shinobi. I waited, until that foreboding weight was lifted from me. I opened my eyes just in time to see my team's prodigy throw the man over his shoulder where Lee was waiting to send that scum spiraling into a world of hurt with an Initial Lotus.

Neji kneeled down next to me, asking if I was alright. His face was calm, but I could see genuine concern in those pearl-like eyes. As I opened my mouth to reply, Lee yelled to us. We both whirled to face him, seeing more enemies emerging from the trees.

"Reinforcements," Neji had groaned. I could tell he was more annoyed than worried. In all honesty, I wish that I had been merely annoyed. I was leaning more to the worried side of the scale. There were so many…

Neji's voice pulled me back. When I looked at him, he was handing me my scrolls and weapons… with a small smile on his face. I really wish he would have smiled more. That smile could have melted a heart.

Time was dragging by. There seemed to be an endless flow of enemies coming from the trees. Whenever one was killed, there seemed to be another three waiting for a chance to attack. It was just as emotionally unnerving as it was physically draining.

I lost track of time after two or three hours of continuous fighting. My muscles were sore, my chakra was drained, and I had little will to go on. The enemies had finally thinned down to a more reasonable number. Only about six left, and then we were through. I would have smiled if I had the energy.

I was just about to launch another onslaught of weapons, when the enemies ran around us and gathered in a circle. There was a blur of yelling and hand signs before an enormous wave of energy was cast out from the center of the circle, knocking me and my teammates backward. After I hit the ground I heard the thumping of feet against the ground and voices shouting back and forth.

As I looked up and my vision cleared, I was able to see Neji sitting up a few yards away from me. I spotted Lee across the field as well… with one of the enemy ninja standing over him. He was still dazed and didn't notice the menacing figure behind him.

My horrified call to him came too late…

The man used Lee's dazed demeanor to his advantage. I watched, as if in slow motion, as the other ninja plunged a knife into my friend's back. His eyes widened to an impossible size before closing. His body slumped to the side and lay still. Forever.

I was in shock. Too shocked to notice the tears running down my face, too shocked to notice I was shaking, and definitely too shocked to notice that the same man who had just killed one of my childhood friends was now coming for me. I finally recognized the call of my name, just in time to see the enemy ninja release another knife in my direction.

Still not trusting my body to move, I panicked. I reacted by closing my eyes and bringing my arms up to shield my face. Can you blame me if I want my family and friends to be able to come to my funeral and not have to deal with a kunai in my head?

The hit never came, but a fit of coughing from the person that was suddenly in front of me did. I slowly opened my tear-filled eyes to see nothing but a blur of white and brown. I pulled my head back to see my other teammate kneeling in front of me, with his arms around me. He reached behind him and, with a grunt of pain, pulled a bloodstained kunai knife from his back.

He simply sat there, staring at the knife in his hand for a while. I was aware that the other ninja were still present and that I needed to be useful to Neji somehow in order for us to survive. I made a move to stand up, but my long-haired teammate rested his hand on my arm to stop me.

I turned to him, confused. Neji reached behind him to his weapon pouch, withdrawing several more kunai knives, a smoke bomb, and a long roll of exploding tags. He strung them all together, and with a long sigh, met my eyes. I saw no fear or hesitation in his pearl colored orbs, just a strong determination, a glowing sureness in his abilities… and a hint of sadness. He stood up, pulling me with him.

"Tenten… run…" Neji said softly, taking two steps backwards so he was standing in the center of the bloodstained field.

I gaped openly at him. He was going to end this here and now… at the cost of his own life. I shook my head dumbly. I wasn't going to leave him here alone, no matter how bleak the future seemed.

He urged me to leave, and I silently refused.

He pushed me to leave again, and still I refused.

He raised his voice slightly, pleading me to run, and still I refused.

As he was about to insist again, and me about to refuse again, the six remaining enemy nin charged.

Neji's reaction was a blur. Byakugan activated, he released an Air Palm in my direction, sending me flying outside the line of trees. He tossed his kunai in six directions, each one curving around a tree trunk and embedding the blade in the trunk of the tree that was lined up with it on the left. This created a hexagon shaped trap of string and exploding tags.

Neji was still standing in the center of his explosive trap. I shook my head at him, begging him not to do it… or at least get out of the way of the blast before he set it off. But he just smiled at me.

Without breaking our eye contact, he tossed the smoke bomb in the air. The air between us was instantly filled with black smoke. I jumped to my feet. I was just about to run to him, pin his arms to his sides with my own limbs, and plead with him to find another way to end the fight.

I was just about to cross the threshold of his wire trap when everything lit up in a massive explosion. I was sent flying backward from the blast. I could hear the screaming of the six other nin trapped in the flames. But I couldn't hear anything that sounded like Neji. My back hit a tree and I hit my head. I put my hand to my head, feeling a hot trickle of blood running down my neck.

Ignoring my pain, I stood again. The blast had blown all the smoke away and I could see the carnage. The six enemy ninja lay in charred heaps around the field. As I passed the line of trees, which now all held severe scorch marks on their trunks, my eyes darted around the field, searching for my teammate.

Sadly, I found him.

I spotted his pristine white clothing on the other end of the field. I ran over to him, tears spilling freely from my hazel eyes. There were only light scorch marks on his clothing and his hair was still perfectly bound. But that was not what caused me to cry even harder.

He had, in the last minute before the blast could get to it, had thrown his body over Lee's. Neji had used the last of his chakra to save his best friend's body from the blast, which in turn had also preserved his.

I knelt down nest to him, pulling him off the body. My hand was shaking as I hopefully pressed two fingers to Neji's neck… before I broke down, sobbing into his white clothing.

Nothing. Not even a hint of a pulse. Neji was dead, as was Lee…

I was alone now…

Four days later, I stood with countless other shinobi on the roof of the Hokage's Tower. Two coffins were at the front of the congregation. Both were beautiful dark stained wood with Leaf Village insignias carved into them. Their beauty truly reflected the beauty of the two individuals they encased.

Gai-sensei was in tears. Not the manly tears that he was known to cry with… _that_ boy. These were tears of utter and unrequited sadness. I could tell that he was going to be like this for a long, long time.

Glancing to my side, I could see the Hyuuga clan gathered. Most of them had their heads bowed in respect to their fallen clansman and his comrade. But Hinata and Hanabi were bawling. Hiashi was down on his knees, trying to comfort his daughters, all the while trying to conceal the glittering tears in his own eyes. The eyes that were so much like his nephew's.

To my other side, the friends of both my teammates could be seen. I raked my eyes across the faces. I could not find a single dry eye. Naruto seemed to be taking it especially hard. He had his eyes clenched shut in emotional agony, while Sakura rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. Naruto had been very close friends with both Lee and Neji. To see both of them gone in the same moment had to be excruciating. Lee was one of the people he trusted most in this world… and he had vowed to Neji to change the Hyuuga. I know that after his defeat at Naruto's hands, Neji wholly believed that Naruto had the capacity to live up to that promise. The fact that Neji could never see that change was tearing the poor blonde boy apart.

Finally, I looked at my reflection in the puddle at my feet. My eyes were dead and lifeless. Fresh tears were still spilling from them. As a summery, I looked like death warmed over.

I tore my eyes away from the puddle and chose to stare at the sky. The grey clouds rolled overhead, seeming to stop and share in our sorrow.

I had been having flashbacks… Memories of past times… happier times… had been passing through my head almost nonstop for several days. In honor of those memories… in honor of Lee's laughter… in honor of Neji's smile… I pledge to live on. To live the lives that had an effect on so many and were so unjustly cut short. I plan to make sure that no one forgets who these men were. Never again will someone close to me die unjustly.

I promise you, my friends…

:~*~:

**Ok, I know what you're thinking: "Why can't she just finish one damn story?"**

**Yeah I get it. Let me just tell you this, while I was in this really morbid mood, I had an overload of ideas! And guess what? I started nearly all of them!**

**That my friends means that I not only have 6 or 7 stories that I need to finish in addition to the ones that I already have, but it means that you get to read all new stuff from yours truly! Wooooooooooooooo!**

**I'm going to Cancun soon too so I will get a lot of writing done on that stupid 6 hour flight. Wish me luck!**


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